


The Sorcerer's Stolen Magic

by ApolloBlackwood



Category: Howl's Moving Castle - All Media Types, 原神 | Genshin Impact (Video Game)
Genre: Abuse of Authority, Alternate Universe - Howl's Moving Castle Fusion, Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Assault, Canon what's Canon, Demons, Eventual Tartaglia | Childe/Zhongli (Genshin Impact), Implied/Referenced Vore, Light Angst, M/M, Magic, Minor Violence, No Archons, No Beta We Die Like Pre-1.1 Headcanons, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Silence Spell, Slow Romance, Somewhat, Sorcerers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:22:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28549314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApolloBlackwood/pseuds/ApolloBlackwood
Summary: A young powerful sorcerer had lost his heart and soul to demons during one of his adventures and since then fed on other people's hearts in order to survive and grow. Nobody in Teyvat knew who he was and how he looked like, but the Tsaritsa's search order at least proved that he was real - that was how the story went. But when Zhongli, a jeweller and crafter who was more powerful than first met the eye, is attacked and hexed by a magician, the original story is about to be rewritten.- "Howl's" Moving Castle AU
Relationships: Albedo & Sucrose (Genshin Impact), Albedo & Zhongli (Genshin Impact), La Signora & Zhongli (Genshin Impact), Original Character(s) - Relationship, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Sucrose & Zhongli (Genshin Impact), Tartaglia | Childe & Xiao (Genshin Impact), Tartaglia | Childe/Zhongli (Genshin Impact), Xiao & Zhongli (Genshin Impact)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 91





	1. Facets of Elements

**Author's Note:**

> So this happened :')

There were many mysteries and rumours surrounding a sorcerer everyone in Teyvat had heard of and knew something to say about. Parents used one of his many names to scare their kids from leaving the house at night or following random strangers because everybody knew that the sorcerer abducted children to feed on them in his free time. Bards knew to tell the story behind this gruesome detail and sang songs about his tragic backstory: how one day, the sorcerer had set out on an adventure and found himself face to face with a demon, who devoured his soul, took his heart and turned him into a fellow demon thirsting for humanity as well. Young folk – the ones who were tempted by thrill and the lighter rumours – laughed with hushed voices that the sorcerer must be extremely attractive to make people fall for him and have them trust him enough to feed on their souls, but nobody really knew how he looked like or even what his real name was.

To add oil to the fires, the Tsaritsa had issued to put up official Wanted posters all over Teyvat, asking about the sorcerer’s whereabouts and inviting the powerful individual to return to her services – and there was no question that the Tsaritsa wasn’t mistaken about the existence of this someone, who, if you believed the rumours, had power over every element of Teyvat.

“It’s impossible that someone can control _every_ element. You need incredible talent to just get one of the Visions – how could the sorcerer use all seven?” – “But don’t you know that he’s a demon? He can control the elements as long as he can eat souls and hearts.”

Zhongli wished that the voices below his window on his home’s second level would finally stop talking and discussing this nonsense. If they continued discussing these baseless mysteries then he would have to close the window and Zhongli was reluctant to do so because of the beautiful weather outside. It was late spring and the weather kindly enough neither too hot nor too cold at this time of day. The air that came in through the window into his room was pleasantly heavy with the smell of rain and once the drops would hit the warm pavements, everyone would breathe more freely again.

The little group of people on the street below his window however had gathered a while ago and disturbed the peaceful image of nature and silence with their chattering, and Zhongli had patiently waited until they finished or at least moved along. He needed his concentration on his handiwork – he couldn’t allow himself the slightest mistake after all.

“Wouldn’t you love to be his friend though?” – “Does someone like him even have friends?” – “Well, I heard he has an apprentice or something. Sigh, I would _love_ to meet him in person. Just to see if he’s really like that, you know?”

Zhongli put down the round emerald in his hands carefully, rose from his chair and pushed the windowpane with one hand in order to close the window and close the sounds from outside out. He could almost bodily feel the regret, let his head droop with a sigh. A knock at his room’s door distracted him from his thoughts, however.

“Zhongli-xiong, we’re going to get back to the mansion before it starts raining. Won’t you join us?”

Albedo. It was remarkable how many bags he could carry on his arms and around his body, fastened with various belts, and how alchemical materials of all kinds poked out not only from there but from his pockets as well. And yet still, Albedo had an ethereal aura to himself that was probably a natural gift, something that Zhongli felt he himself didn’t have and would never have. Well, not that he minded standing in Albedo’s shadow and do the only work that he in comparison to his chosen brother could do, thanks to his divine patience.

“I have to complete the customer’s commission. Go on without me”, he answered and observed how Albedo looked as if he wanted to add something but changed his mind. Instead, Albedo pressed his lips into a smile and warned: “Don’t stay too long and don’t forget to close up the shop too, fine?”

“Of course.”

Zhongli watched the door close behind Albedo and turned back to his work, picking up the emerald carefully again. Even with just the light falling in from the window and without any superior knowledge one could tell that it was a precious gem. An amateur in crafting would detect magic emanating from the stone’s core and only professionals were able to bring out the gem’s full potential.

This gem was what magicians and sorcerers widely called a "Vision”. Nobody knew where these gems came from or how some people were able to make use of the slumbering magic and others not. If Zhongli wasn’t mistaken, there were entire research facilities dedicated to the Visions, their origins and usage, but he had never seen one anywhere close here. All he needed to know was how to craft accessories from these gems – put them “in clothing”, so to say.

This particular emerald, imbued with the power of Anemo, would look best with delicate ornaments that played about the core, like a crown complimented royalty while it was the blood in their veins that defined their status. An extra, not a defining trait.

Zhongli enclosed the emerald in brackets, careful not to leave a single scratch on the even surface and selected pale golden wires to go with the stone. He embedded his work on a cushion of thinly cut expensive sandalwood, wrapped the picked wires with the help of special pliers and pincers and magnifying glass to keep a close eye on his work. Outside, the clouds grew heavier and the atmosphere darker so that Zhongli had to turn on one of those new lights that had come to the market a couple of months ago – a gift for Albedo from an admirer but since he had had no use for it, Zhongli had taken it for himself.

When working with elements it was important to note that every Vision had its own characteristics; for Anemo Visions this meant that the gems disliked being treated harshly and by default followed the principle of freedom. So, a jeweller’s greatest mistake was to enclose Anemo gems completely, which would lead them to malfunction or sometimes – in the worst case – break and cause greater damage. This had happened to Zhongli once, a case that he rather did not remember.

While working, Zhongli had lost all sense of time and thus was surprised that, when he looked up, it seemed to be evening outside the window. Alarmed, he gave the clock on the wall in his back a quick look, and sighed. He really had stayed here long after regular closing time.

His eyes wandered back to the gem in his hands and he furrowed his brows. Something … seemed to be amiss with the Vision. It was aesthetically pleasing work and the Vision itself showed no signs of discomfort, like a distorted flow of the magic in its core. However, the longer Zhongli looked at it, the more he felt that he wasn’t finished yet – but he had to close the shop as well.

“I wonder when the customer will return to pick this up?” He clicked his tongue. If sorcerers and magicians had any sort of decorum, they’d listen to his proposed deadlines, but knowing these folks time might as well have ran out by yesterday already. And Zhongli would never sleep well at night anymore if he left the Vision in the state it was right now, assuming the customer came to claim the product tomorrow.

Without further ado, Zhongli left his work desk, rummaged through the pile of cast-off presents for Albedo by admirers and happened to find the perfect pouch to store the Vision in, made from fine burgundy material and insulating magical energy. In this, and with another kerchief wrapped around the wired gem, Zhongli put his handiwork into, fastened it on his belt and turned off the modern light. He was ready to leave.

He left his room, stepped outside and hurried down the street to where his shop was located – a place, where he accepted customers’ requests and sold normal accessories and jewellery next to these magical ones that needed his special attention. Obviously, the assistant who was helping him out at the shop while he was busy working at commissions was no longer around and the shop’s windows dark. How long did the assistant have to wait this time?

Zhongli stopped by the door with a quiet sigh but was grateful that nothing had happened here during his absence. Usually, this part of town was quiet and peaceful, if one disregarded the recent uproars that stemmed in dissatisfaction with the distribution of magic …

“Fortunately, we don’t store magical items here”, he finished his thought process. That meant that the uproars didn't reach the shop and thus, small mistakes like forgetting the time weren't much of a problem.

Zhongli pushed open the door and took a look around the interiors to make sure that everything was left as he remembered it, and gave another sigh, this time one of relief. He could lock the store and go back home, where Albedo was probably waiting for him already. Well, that Zhongli was running late wasn’t exactly something out of the ordinary anyways.

“Oh really?”

The voice came unexpected from behind and made Zhongli flinch violently. He turned on his heels and saw that there was a lady at the entrance to the shop. A customer? She had scared him. But it was unprofessional to let this get to him and so Zhongli ignored the goosebumps all over his skin and ignored the bad feeling in his stomach. This lady was a potential customer, he simply had to politely explain the situation. His preferred method was politeness anyways.

“I’m sorry, we’re closed. I was on my way to lock the door. If there’s anything I can help you with, please return tomorrow.”

“It won’t take long.” The tall, elegant figure with light voluminous hair and so many different trinket-like accessories that she had to be a magician, walked over the threshold and deeper into the store. This way, Zhongli could see her two companions, which, in stark contrast to her, looked very much like thieves. Who else would hide their faces behind masks and shroud themselves in threatening dark magic? No, maybe they weren't customers after all.

“Excuse me –“

“Psh.” The lady walked closer and simply waved a finger in order to silence Zhongli’s repeated attempt to ask them to leave, sealing his lips with a cold gust of wind. She looked around the store with a derogatory facial expression, picked up a bracelet by her side and dropped it back without as much as looking at it. With every second she spent at the shop, the darkness seemed to swallow up the air and made it harder for Zhongli to breathe, filled the surroundings with cold.

“Where do you keep it? The Visions. Hand them over.” She turned to Zhongli with another natural swing of her hips and waved her hand at her lackeys, her eyes two pools of coldness that nailed him to the spot. Even if he wanted to look away, it was impossible, just as impossible as screaming out when her companions started rampaging through the shop. He could only watch the chaos unfold from the corners of his eyes in silent horror - why were they doing this?

“Nothing here, Signora.”

“Not here either.”

“Tch.” She averted her eyes and Zhongli stumbled back, free from her magic that had nailed him to the spot, crashed against the far wall and pressed against it, hoping that somebody would see his situation and come to help from the outside. As if to mock him, the first drops of rain started falling, and nobody walked by to help. Most people were home already.

“Well, if that is not what I’m searching for.” Signora’s eyes had focused on the pouch Zhongli had fastened to his belt and his hand immediately reached down in the futile attempt to hide it from her. The only effect his reaction had was to annoy her even more. “You had it all along and decided to hide it from me, hah.”

“It’s not yours. You’re not an Anemo wielder.” He used the wall as support and slowly straightened up with its help, still shaking from the tense, cold air in here. The temperature seemed to drop even more when Signora threw her head to the side and laughed with a hand in front of her mouth, her voice crystal clear when she asked: “You dare to talk back to me? Do you not know who I am?”

She closed the distance to him, crossed her arms loosely in front of her chest and leaned forward, her face caught between amusement, somewhat like disbelief and annoyance, “I am one of the Tsaritsa’s Harbingers, fool. When I say that you give me the Vision, then you either comply or die.”

Zhongli didn’t doubt for a single second that she might not be exaggerating. Her proximity hurt him physically, the air so cold that he could see his own breath in front of his face, his skin so numb that he had no sense of body anymore. His lips didn’t move for an answer and he had no means to fight back.

“Oh, but I know something better than death for you. Take this as a parting gift and remember my name, foolish boy.” Her hand closed around his chin with the speed of a serpent’s attack, her skin colder than he would ever have the words to describe it. Zhongli’s world blurred out into the white of pure snow and when she let go off him, he fell to his knees with violent coughs, both hands on the ground, shaking.

He heard the thieves leave the store, would hear the sounds of Signora’s heels on the wooden floor deep in his dreams at night, and with pained exhales to get the cold out of his lungs reached for the pouch on his belt – but it was gone. She had taken the Vision with her!

Zhongli clenched his hand to a fist and beat down, shaking and feeling thousand needles on his skin where warmth and sense slowly came back into his body. He couldn't move yet, was alone with his thoughts. How would he explain this loss to his customer? Visions were extremely valuable, as was his customers' trust. What would this thievery do to his reputation, would he really have to move out of the city again because of one mistake that would leave his good reputation in scatters?

_No, please. Not again._

Zhongli could take deeper breaths the longer he knelt on the floor, upper body stretched over the wood among the chaos of his shop. He realized that with the speed he felt the warmth return it might not be too late for him yet. He had to – he had to get up and either follow Signora on his own, or ask Albedo to help him out! Yes, he could do that. He could still get the Vision back before the customer returned to claim his commission. Just, move.

“Urgh!” Zhongli’s knees gave in under him several times while he tried to get up, but finally he managed to stand upright and felt well enough to go on and find his way over the scattered works all over the floor. He reached the door, tore it open and stumbled into the rain, stumbled back to the shop and looked around if there was something to protect himself from the worst weather – and had to settle with one of the display boxes since the assistant seemed to have taken their only umbrella with them.

Holding the box over his head, Zhongli stumbled along the street, in the direction of his house where Albedo was surely waiting for him. Since it was raining rather heavily, almost nobody was walking on the side streets but for a handful of fools like him, who ran to find shelter from the rain. On the main street though, there were as many people as always, using umbrellas to keep the rain away.

Zhongli mixed with those people and tried to not bump into them as best as he could, apologized for every time he failed. He ran faster to avoid the mad gazes he got from the random people he ran into. Oh why did there have to be such masses on the main street but not there where he had been robbed? Why had there been no one to help him? Magic? Or had Signora attacked other people too?

“Hey there. Stop.” Suddenly, an arm outstretched to the side right in front of him stopped Zhongli, who hadn't paid much attention where he was going, and made him look up. Two city guards, standing underneath a protruding roof at the side of the main street where Zhongli had been walking. Smiling at him, but in that polite way that wasn’t meant seriously.

“Why are you running into the people? Are you a pick pocket?” The taller guard, a handsome guy with headgear that was several sizes too big for him, straightened up threateningly in front of Zhongli, but the smaller blonde one at his side laughed and asked: “With both his hands over his head? Come on, stand with us here, your shoulders are getting wet from the rain.”

“Officer, I was – “ _ambushed, a lady named Signora has rampaged through my shop and taken a customer’s Vision, please issue a search order immediately!_

Zhongli knew exactly what he wanted to say. The guards could help him, the plea was on the tip of his tongue, he just needed to say it, just had to report the attack, but – but !!! – Zhongli couldn’t. He physically couldn’t force his lips open or his tongue to say the words that were clear in his mind. His eyes widened and he dropped the box he was holding over his head to reach for his mouth. His lips were like glued shut!

“Huh? Are you fine? What’s with your look? Wait, is that a magical aura that I feel from you? Are you a sorcerer?” The guards, who have been bickering with each other in the meantime, lost all traces of smiles on their faces and frowned at the strange behaviour that unfolded before their eyes.

“I can’t – it’s impossible for me to – I think that – “ Zhongli tried to get the words out, but the harder he tried, the more impossible it got. He noticed how the two guards exchanged another look and moved apart to stand slightly left and right of him. He shook his hands in front of him. Not this too! “Oh no no, I swear I’m fine, I was on my way home, my brother is waiting for me! You surely know him too -”

“You will explain this to us in detail under a roof where we can talk to each other undisturbed and without getting wet.” The oversized hat reached out for him and made Zhongli back away.

_No!_

In a split second, Zhongli considered running away. If he couldn’t get hold of Signora, then he would need to leave the city no matter what, so being on bad footing or wanted by the city guards didn’t make a difference to his situation anymore. He couldn’t fight in any case – he always picked the peaceful option –, but at the same time he didn’t trust the strength in his legs to carry him all the way to his house before the guards caught up to him. Screaming or resisting wouldn’t help either. But if he got caught here, it was over! He had to at least try running.

That exact moment when he had all of these thoughts, someone put a warm arm around his shoulder and startled Zhongli. His head shot to the side to see who the person standing next to him was, but he didn’t know this young man, had never even seen him before. Zhongli was sure he would remember such a handsome side profile with its prominent jawline, and the orange flaming hair was hardly common among the city folk that was mostly dark-haired. This young man didn't show any sort of discomfort though.

“I finally found you!”, he spoke up with melodic voice and met eyes with Zhongli, eyes of clear blue that made it impossible for Zhongli to voice his confusion in any way. “Are they bothering you, my friend?”

He waved his pointing finger of the hand that was loosely wrapped around Zhongli's shoulders – the guards’ legs hit together under their protesting shouts. Magic! The officers even saluted at the guy’s mocking smile against their will, turned around and walked into the opposite direction in lockstep.

“What?” Zhongli finally found his voice. No question, this man was a sorcerer. But contrary to others, it wasn’t evident from first sight what his element was. Zhongli couldn’t feel the slightest bit of elemental magic come from him. But judging by the bright red ruby hanging as earring from his ear, this man must be a Pyro user. Since when did Pyro users know how to control other people?

“Hm.” The sorcerer’s smile that had been broadly on his face while watching the guards get dragged away by magic died away and he gave Zhongli an apologetic look. “Sorry to drag you into this mess. Let’s go. We don’t have any time to waste.”

With that, the young man, who still had an arm around Zhongli’s shoulders casually, pulled him with him from underneath the protruding roof into the pouring rain. “Wait -!” Zhongli had braced himself against the drops and getting even wetter than he already was, but to his great surprise the sorcerer guided him with unchanged pace and more importantly: without that the two of them got wet at all.

_Huh?_

Zhongli could feel the power of Hydro coming from the man walking beside him. Yes, magic repelled the rain drops before they could hit the two of them and even better, Zhongli could feel how the wet parts of his clothing had magically dried under the touch of the sorcerer. So, not a Pyro but Hydro Vision user? But how was that possible?

“Hold on tightly. They’re persistent today.”

_Who?_

Zhongli caught glimpse of familiar darkness among the people walking on the main street by accident, probably just because the person that the dark cold aura came from didn’t move while everybody else avoided them by instinct.

The next moment, Zhongli and his companion took a sharp corner into a side alley, where suddenly no people were walking at all. The most curious part was that they sped up even more, basically ran from a threat that Zhongli couldn’t exactly see but feel because the cold darkness seemed to be closing in again –

“It’s a dead end!”, Zhongli realized when he looked where they were running to. And indeed, the street ended in houses, but the sorcerer showed no sign of slowing down. Would he run the door down? But also, the threatening darkness was creeping from underneath the doorways left and right and if Zhongli wasn’t mistaken, then from in front of them as well!

“I know!” With unexpected laughter, the youth bent his knees and jumped before they could crash against the house, and ran along the wall with ease, up, holding Zhongli as loosely as if they were still walking horizontally. Zhongli, on the other hand, forgot how to breathe, didn’t know if he should press his eyes close or have them wide open to not miss anything, and suddenly, the two of them were up in the air all by themselves, the darkness somewhere deep down below where Zhongli couldn’t see it anymore. He felt its lingering touch at his heels.

These were Anemo powers, were they not? They were floating ... but … how? Who was this man??

“You were on your way somewhere, right? Where should I bring you?” The sorcerer moved his arm from around Zhongli’s shoulders along Zhongli’s arms, took his hands into his own and added with a murmur: “Don’t be scared, just float, like me. See? It’s easy.”

Zhongli clung to the hands holding him tightly, too afraid to think about what would happen if he let go, but at the same time completely overwhelmed by the feeling of flying. Normal people like himself could only dream of this. It might have been even enjoyable if Zhongli wasn’t so overwhelmed by everything that had happened to him since he set out from his workplace today.

“You’re a natural!”

Zhongli took the compliment without comment and instead used the opportunity to study the man by his side one more time as he saw the opportunity to do so. There was no question that the sorcerer was using both Anemo to keep them up in the air, and Hydro to keep the rain from soaking them. At the same time, Zhongli didn’t feel any traces of magic coming from the man, not even as underlying as it had been with Signora. However, the sorcerer had several obviously handcrafted accessories on himself: A Pyro ruby earring that was dangling from his left ear; an Electro amethyst embedded in a black slim necklet around his throat; a Geo topaz shoulder plate – and these were the only ones Zhongli was able to see from his position.

“My house. The Chalk Khemia”, he answered absentmindedly and lifted his wandering gaze to meet the clear blue eyes that had been smiling like crescent moons at him, aware that he was being studied.

“Hah.” The sorcerer shifted his weight, changing their floating direction, and to Zhongli’s greatest trouble yet loosened his grip around his hand, leaning closer and lowering his voice to a tone that felt too intimate even though it was only whispers. “Do you want to risk getting spotted by the people down below? They rarely look up, but I must say, I missed out on the thrill of battle because of you.”

From the corners of his eyes Zhongli saw an Opal ring on Childe’s left hand radiate green light and felt it take effect immediately. Another element …

“You’re shielding us.”

His observation made the sorcerer retract and change his smile once again. He had an attractive smile that made him look years younger but judging by the goosebumps taking hold of Zhongli’s skin there had to be threat in there somewhere. How else could he explain his reaction? It must've been subconscious warning signs, definitely. “Who are you?”

They sank lower and lower and Zhongli lowered his head to look over the sea of umbrellas underneath their feet. In some distance, he recognized the loggia of his home - where the sorcerer headed and landed on the railings with light feet. He held Zhongli’s hand until he had solid ground under his feet again and only then let go, breaking some sort of connection between the two of them. The absence of magic when he let go took Zhongli by surprise.

“You can call me Gongzi if you want to.” He winked and gave a bow while still standing on the railing, hand on his chest. Before they could exchange another word, Gongzi waved his arm around and jumped off backwards, disappearing below – Zhongli plunged, grabbed the railing and looked over the edge into the mass, but the sorcerer was nowhere to be seen anymore. There were no remnants of magic left in the air either, as if this had all been part of Zhongli’s imagination.

"Wait!", he shouted, "come back!"

“Zhongli-ge?” A different, timid voice called out to him instead. “I heard the ruckus h-here and thought that a customer might’ve tried to sneak into Albedo gege’s room … But praised be Barbatos, it’s only you. I’m relieved.”

Zhongli turned and saw his sister-by-choice, Sucrose, standing at the staircase that led one level lower, lowering an axe in her hands that he had obviously been ready to use. She pushed her glasses up her nose with one gloved hand and approached Zhongli. “You look a little bit pale. Did something happen?”

“I … yes.” Zhongli let go of the railing and struggled to change his troubled facial expression, sort his thoughts somewhat. So much had happened, he didn’t even know where to begin. “Is Albedo here?”

“Yes, he’s still working. You know how it is. Closing hours don’t mean much here, do they? Haha.” Sucrose held the weapon in her hands tightly against her chest but jumped when she realized that it was the axe she was still holding onto. With reddening cheeks, she crouched and put the weapon down against the wall, then hid her hands behind her back.

“Yes. Indeed. I … Can you ask him to come here? I think I …”

“Zhongli-ge, are you not feeling well? Your head is so red. Did you forget to bring an umbrella and caught a fever? H-huh, but you’re not wet at all.” Sucrose tip-toed and put a hand on Zhongli’s forehead, focussing his attention on her for a moment before he lost his train of thought again. “Don’t mind! I’ll go get Albedo gege!”

With these words, Sucrose turned around on spot and hurried back to the staircase, down to where Albedo was surrounded by groups of people as usually – and Zhongli used the opportunity to sink against the next wall, press both hands left and right of his face, and try to comprehend the entirety of what had happened to him in the span of such short time.


	2. The Difference between Gems and Life

Curious spectators called what Albedo was doing in his shop “magic” even though every child in Teyvat knew that sorcerers and magicians didn’t rely on materials, elemental reactions and knowledge like Albedo but on Visions and talent instead. To be precise, calling him a sorcerer came close to insulting him. The Chalk Khemia did honest work and though the general interest was flattering, sometimes it felt like a burden.

“Albedo xiansheng, will you be free after closing up your shop? Are you hungry? Can I invite you to dinner?” – “No, da-ge, go out with me instead! I will treat you to a better place than him!” – “Back off, you two, it’s my turn now!” – “Do you believe you can –“ Several people were pushing each other and competing for Albedo’s attention as he was silently collecting and wrapping up the customer’s order. Even though Albedo was used to it, that didn’t mean that he welcomed this kind of attention. What use did people who weren’t interested in alchemy have to him?

“You are too noisy.” Albedo didn’t even speak loudly, but it had the same effect as if he raised his voice. Everybody seemed to collectively hold their breaths in a wave of awed silence when Albedo lifted the finished wrapped up package onto the counter and looked up for the first time, meeting his customer’s eyes. His instructions for him were court and precise: “Cool it and use everything at once. There’s no telling what side-effects could affect you otherwise.”

His calm way of talking drew people in naturally, not to mention that the earnest look from his eyes held people captivated as if prey was watching its predator. The customer hurriedly inclined his head with a shy smile and accepted the package.

“Yes, of course. It’s always a pleasure doing business with Chalk Khemia, Mr Kreideprinz.”

“I hope so.” In the following silence, Albedo heard Sucrose’s hurried footsteps coming down the staircase and turned his head. She didn’t carry the axe he had given her for self-defence anymore … so, either the intruder upstairs had disarmed Sucrose (highly unlikely) or it hadn’t been an unknown person after all (highly probable). Judging by the look in Sucrose’s wide eyes, it was somebody he knew.

One person came to Albedo’s mind.

Sucrose closed the distance between them, grabbed Albedo by his sleeve and tip-toed to whisper at him: “Gege, can you go upstairs? Zhongli-ge asked to get you. I think it’s urgent.”

So it had been Zhongli. Not surprising. However, why hadn’t he used the front entrance to the shop like anybody else? The shop wasn’t too full anymore. Hm, something must’ve happened to alter his usual behaviour like this.

Albedo had a couple of theories about this question too and thought about the individual possibilities and their probabilities shortly, in a matter of seconds. “Sucrose-mei, can you handle the last customers in my stead?”, he asked absentmindedly.

“O-oh. I …” Sucrose fell back onto her heels again and covered her face with one hand, unable to stop the redness from spreading over her cheeks up to the tips of her ears. “I-I don’t …”

“Don’t worry, they’ll leave in a couple of minutes. I trust that you can handle this.” He picked up the raw crystal from the counter he was working on and extended his hand to her, waiting for her to take it. Sucrose was a brilliant alchemist, who had made ground-breaking discoveries on her field. Her research, theses and results were popular even among the Vision research facilities despite not having much to do with elemental magic. And yet, Sucrose often seemed to lack confidence or be shy without reason, which led many people to believe they could underestimate her.

Albedo knew better. He knew she could handle this brilliantly.

“Will you excuse me? Urgent business came up”, Albedo interrupted the constant flow of words from those presently gathered in front of the counter without losing any time and ignored the first disappointed murmurs, his voice and facial expression as neutral as always. Why would he care? It was past closing time and if they didn’t buy anything and provided no use for his research at hand, then Albedo wasn’t interested.

* * *

Zhongli stood in a room filled to the brim with research materials, neatly stowed away in wooden or transparent boxes, depending on their contents. Among high shelves, there were no windows or unnatural light sources in order to keep any environmental influences out. The air smelled a bit of dust and the scent of old books, the pleasant, not the suffocating kind. This was how this part of the shop had always been – a haven, completely shielded from magic or the influence of time. Looked after, cared for.

“Zhongli-xiong?”

Zhongli put the dried Cecilia in his hands back into the glass case when he heard his brother speak up behind him. As usual, he hadn’t heard him enter. It was either a force of habit for Albedo because he stepped lightly on the floor as if he was sneaking around, or Zhongli had been too caught up in his own thoughts again.

“One can’t tell by simply looking that the Cecilia has long withered.” He closed the glass case carefully, put the bolt back into place and joined his hands behind his back, eyes unfaltering on the flower. Standing here in the comfort of this room alongside his brother calmed his mind. “Nobody can tell the difference from a fresh one by the outside. It still looks beautiful. And yet there is no life left in it.”

Albedo leaned against the display case and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “What happened?”

Zhongli closed his eyes. His grip around his hand tightened. He had tried talking about Signora’s attack and about the stolen Vision to himself while waiting for Albedo, but magic stopped him from talking no matter how he much tried to overcome the curse placed on him.

“I met a remarkable person today”, he said first. Albedo was good in guessing and assessing probabilities for the likeliness of events and surely knew that there was more to the story. This piqued his interest though.

“Remarkable? How? Who was it?”

“He called himself Gongzi. I met him on my way here, down the plaza across the street. A sorcerer, but he was using several Visions.” Zhongli reciprocated Albedo’s burning gaze and noticed how much his brother had paled.

“Are you absolutely sure?” Even his voice sounded tense. Zhongli exhaled audibly and nodded once. He didn’t expect it when Albedo grabbed his arms and tugged him on his level. He turned his face in his hands and reached to feel Zhongli’s pulse, but Zhongli caught his hand. He wasn’t sure if Albedo’s reaction was out of concern or because of his scientific interest in understanding the impossible. Technically … it could be both.

“I promise, I’m fine.”

“No. Have you any idea who this sorcerer was? If he’s the demon guy from the rumours, then he might have casted his magic on you. Let go of me, let me take a closer look at you.”

“Albedo, do you really believe in those rumours?” Zhongli got hold of both hands and forced Albedo to hold still and look at him. “You know what rumours say about your work.”

“It’s not the same. You don’t understand this, _nobody_ can use several Visions. It’s humanly impossible to do so.” He freed his arms from Zhongli’s grip with a click of his tongue, looking more annoyed with every passing second. “I need tests to assess the situation. Even if the guy wasn’t that famous sorcerer, fact is that you reek like magic. Come with me, Zhongli-xiong. I’ll prepare everything downstairs.”

Zhongli didn’t move. “Albedo. There’s more. We have to leave the city.”

“Don’t be naïve. We won’t leave everything behind because of one sorcerer. Never again.” Albedo’s eyes flashed with determination and Zhongli opened his mouth to explain that he hadn’t meant it like that – they needed to leave because there was no way Zhongli would be able to retrieve the stolen Vision anymore and it had nothing to do with Gongzi. In fact, Albedo might’ve been able to guess why Zhongli proposed leaving the city if he wasn’t so caught up in the spur of the moment. “Come on. Don’t just stand there.”

“It’s not because of Gongzi”, Zhongli tried to explain, but his words fell on deaf ears. Even through all the experiments conducted by Sucrose and Albedo downstairs – both looking at Zhongli more like at an interesting subject than their brother – they would hear nothing of it, crediting his futile attempts with shorts “Mmh” between long phrases of research talk that made Zhongli’s head swim.

Exhausted to the bone, somehow still freezing and feeling dizzy, Zhongli was allowed to go after what felt like hours of doing little tasks under the effect of several potions. In his head, unanswered questions were beating around like caged birds. One thing was crystal clear: Albedo and Sucrose would not leave the city. Not again. But what if they didn’t have to?

Zhongli dragged himself along the hallway until he reached his bedroom door, unable to recall when the last time that he had felt like this had been. He felt like his soul and body were two separate entities that had nothing to do with each other. He opened the door to his bedroom, stumbled to his bed and dropped onto the blanket, head turned to the window where a full moon shone gently onto his face.

The customer had given the Vision to Zhongli. Losing the Vision was Zhongli’s fault. So the logical consequence would be that only Zhongli had to leave – even when losing the Vision would also affect Chalk Khemia’s reputation. Not that it would hurt Albedo a lot, probably. Not with how much the folk here loved him. And everybody knew that Albedo had nothing to do with Visions. That was Zhongli’s job because he was the one who was patient and diligent enough to work with the slumbering streams of magic. Maybe Albedo had the talent for it too, but it was clear that he had chosen alchemy for himself. Why would he have to leave the city together with Zhongli if this didn’t affect him at all?

_I wish I could tell him that I was attacked._

Zhongli’s eyelids grew heavier and he thought about the chaotic state the shop was in. Maybe Albedo would be able to conclude what Zhongli had been referring to when he said they needed to leave before the customer returned, but it would be too late to act then. Should Zhongli leave the city by himself and hope that Albedo’s reputation would stay immaculate despite this mistake? He could take all the blame on himself.

When he opened his eyes again, the early morning sun was shining sideways through his window onto his face. He squinted, lifted a hand over his face and turned onto his back, noticing how heavy his body felt.

_Ah. Albedo’s potions? Strange that I can feel the after-effects._

He turned to his other side and stared, suddenly wide awake, at the palm of his hand. With a jerk he sat up straight in bed and tried to process what he was seeing. Why did his skin look blue?? Were those _scales_ on the back of his hands?

Zhongli threw back his covers and got out of bed, stumbled over his own feet and fell on his knees, locking eyes with his reflection in the mirror. Just … that wasn’t him. There was no way that was him.

With a shriek Zhongli pushed back and his hands flew to his head, feeling the short black horns on his forehead and checking over the scales that grew over his jaw into his face. He had slitted eyes of the colour of Topaz. How could something like this have happened to him? Did the experiments yesterday -?

“Zhongli-xiong?” The knocking on his door made Zhongli startle and his head flew around. He pulled the covers from his bed down and around him, figuring out what to do with his new thin tail in a panic, but thankfully, Albedo didn’t enter the room and spoke through the door. “I’ll go open the shop. Breakfast is ready, follow me when you’re finished.”

“I will!” Zhongli pressed a hand against his mouth, eyes widening at how different his voice sounded. It wasn’t simply deeper but more like a beast’s growling. There was no way that this had been caused by Albedo’s potions. No, it was more likely that this was the work of Signora’s attack yesterday.

On the other side of the door, Zhongli could definitely hear hesitation. “Are you alright? Are you suffering any side-effects? Should I come in and check on you?” The door handle lowered a bit and Zhongli roared: “No, it’s fine, Albedo! I – cough cough – just caught a cold because of the rain yesterday!” As if a cold could ever change your voice this much! Ah, and those were fangs biting down on Zhongli’s lips, weren’t they?

“Ah. In that case I will ask Sucrose-mei to go get some medicine.” Albedo seemed to linger in front of the door but retracted his hand from the handle in the end. Zhongli could hear his footsteps down the hallway and noticed how bright his surroundings seemed to him too. So, was this how it felt like to be a demon?

A demon.

Zhongli put his head back against the hard wood and wrapped himself tighter into his covers. He had never known that magic could turn someone into demons, but then again, he had never paid much attention to current research. Hm, he hadn’t even believed that demons were real to begin with. And he doubted that Albedo and Sucrose would take this news as calmly as he did. What if … what if they wanted to do experiments on his new form too?

_Don’t think about it. You wanted to leave anyway._

Zhongli got up, got dressed in long sleeves and a coat that might be too warm for today but covered his arms and throat well enough so that his scales weren’t immediately visible. What should he do with the horns? They weren’t very big but too prominently on his forehead. Together with his strange eyes any disguise would be blown immediately. Should he wear a hat?

He rummaged through his wardrobe and found a conveniently big scarf he forgot he owned that he wrapped around his head like a bandage, covering the sides of his face and the horns. Indubitably, he would be drawing attention to himself with this get-up because his outfit was a questionable display of strange fashion sense. However, he only needed to leave the city.

_Where will I go?_

Zhongli froze. Where _could_ he go? Working with Visions and crafting jewellery had been the only thing he had done all his life. Jewellery. Riches. Shiny materials. His, they belonged to – Zhongli shook his head and slapped the sides of his head lightly, making himself snap out of it. This was not the time to be thinking about this! He had to leave before it was too late.

People said that every misfortune was followed by string of fortunate events. Zhongli found the promised breakfast on the table and packed it to take it with him, thanking Sucrose in his mind and apologizing that he wouldn’t be able to tell her goodbye in person. Somehow, he managed to sneak out the Chalk Khemia without being seen by customers even though the first people were already waiting outside for Albedo (who, no doubt, must’ve discovered the shop’s mess and drawn his conclusions by now). In the span of maybe an hour Zhongli left the city without any major occurrences, for which he was tremendously grateful. He couldn’t tell what would’ve happened if yesterday repeated itself and either Signora’s henchmen or officers stopped him on his way. Though, if he were able to locate Signora and learn what had happened to the Vision, then maybe there still was a chance – ah, unlikely. To cut him off completely, he had been turned into a demon. Signora sure was thorough.

The city itself was located among wide plains dipped in thick fog that had given the surroundings a dreamy atmosphere whenever the sun was shining and trying its best to reach the green grass. It rarely managed to and so the ground was covered in little droplets that came from the fog, soaking Zhongli’s boots the higher he came. Back when Albedo, Sucrose and he had left their home for the first time they hadn’t needed to get this deep into the country and thus, Zhongli didn’t know if there was snow up ahead and if he was prepared sufficiently for the adventure yet to come. To be honest, he didn’t know much about being a demon either. Could he even eat normal human food or would he need to attack humans in order to feed on their souls and hearts?

Or was that something that only Gongzi needed to do?

After walking a while, Zhongli felt the first signs of fatigue settle in his bones. He wasn’t used to the changed weight of his body. Who would’ve thought that a tail and some scales on your body could be this exhausting?

Zhongli turned around and looked down into the valley, where the city seemed very small. He had managed to walk a good distance, he guessed. He felt overwhelmed by regret. Had there something been he could’ve done differently to avoid disaster? Probably not. So, he should be content because like this he at least could spare his siblings from his own fate.

The roofs of the houses looked like shining gems in the sun’s rays. Gems. Precious stones. He needed to have them. They would be useful on his journey, console him instead of humans because he wasn’t sure that he could enjoy human company safely anymore. Oh yes, he could smell the treasure in the wind. It was calling him. It was asking him to put down his baggage and return in order to liberate the hidden treasures. The wind brought the alluring promises in his direction, tugged at his scarf and exposed his head from the disguise as Zhongli stood straight like a stick, staring down the valley, under the spell of his thoughts.

The wind slapped something painfully across his cheek and a black shadow covered his eyes, interrupting visual contact. Growling in surprise, Zhongli struggled and managed to throw off what had attacked him. It was … a plushie? Somewhat dirty, partially run-down, something between a bear and wolf with long limbs and a black jacket on top of it. Where did it come from?

Zhongli turned to look in the opposite direction but stopped when he saw from the corners of his eyes that the plushie moved. It shook, got to its hindlegs and turned around, dusting itself off with – how Zhongli believed – accusation in the way it stood.

“I’m sorry”, Zhongli apologized and felt dumb for talking to the plushie. He had never seen something quite like that – could this be another type of magic? But which Vision could have an effect like this? “I hope I didn’t hurt you.”

The plushie came closer until it stood next to Zhongli (it reached his midriff hardly) and lifted an arm. Zhongli looked down at himself and realised that it was pointing at the bundle he carried neatly packed with his shoulder bag.

“You want this?” He took off the bundle, unfolded it and crouched down so that the plush could see the breakfast Sucrose had prepared earlier. To Zhongli’s repeated surprise the plush grabbed the sealed apple juice, undid the seal and … kind of drank it. Kind of, because it didn’t have a mouth. It simply soaked itself with the juice.

_We’re two odd ones out. A demon and … a demon plush._

Zhongli took the freshly baked bread with berry jam, put the bundle back where he got it and straightened up. This time, he didn’t repeat the mistake of looking back to the city – and even if he wanted to, he wouldn’t be able to see the houses’ roofs anymore because the fog had grown thicker so that the valley wasn’t to be made out easily anymore.

“We’re even now. Excuse me.” Zhongli walked on, wondering how long it would take him to reach the mountain tops and if there would be snow. He bit into the jam bread. It was as tasty as always, so maybe that meant that demons could eat normal food too? His senses were a lot sharper than when he had been a human, at the very least. If he wasn’t mistaken, then Sucrose’s bread was a bit too crispy.

Something grabbed onto his tail and made Zhongli look behind him. He moved his tail from side to side and up and sighed.

“I said we’re even. Why are you still here?” The plush dangled from the tip of his tail, its strangely rough fabric clinging to his scales. When it was sure that Zhongli wouldn’t try to throw it off again, it let go and crossed its arms in front of its chest, giving off a somewhat threatening aura. “I’m not going anywhere. Why would you follow me?”

Zhongli picked up walking and the plush followed. Whenever it started falling behind, it settled down onto its four and ran like a strangely disproportionate dog to close up in distance, before rising and walking on its hindlegs again. Zhongli couldn’t sense any sort of magic coming from it, but when he thought about it then he hadn’t felt anything from Gongzi either.

“Do you have a name?” Zhongli ate his jam bread with interested side-glances at his companion. If they were going to walk together, he could just as well learn how to call him. “Aurelle.”

The plush didn’t react. “Onyx? Bramble?” He tried several different Chinese words and when he jokingly said “Yaomo”, a wave went through the little fellow and rooted it to its place, the two coal black eyes glistening intelligently. “Yaomo?”, Zhongli repeated and chuckled, an unfamiliar sound for his ears that made the initial happiness turn into a deep melancholy.

_This life wasn’t meant to be. I better get over it quickly. I wonder if Albedo notifies the guards about the shop. There’s not really anything left that he could do for me. It’d be irrational for him to search for me, right?_

Zhongli noticed that Yaomo was tugging at his sleeve and opened his mouth to ask. In that second, he could feel a heavy gust of wind violently rush past him, whirling up dust and earth from the ground. Zhongli threw both arms up and pressed his weight against the wind, fighting against getting blown away. Quick-wittedly, he lashed out with his tail and managed to grab Yaomo before it was carried away too. What in the world, where did such force come from?

“Hold on tightly!”, he shouted against the wind, and in that moment the fog was parted and the gigantic body of _something_ came their way. It was huge, its body covering all of the visible sky with just the visible part as it ran past Zhongli and Yaomo, and it was moving at incredible speed, carried by wind and its own mass. Steam was blowing out of several portions and the noise of machinery was too loud in Zhongli’s ears, making him press his hands flat against the sides of his head.

_WHAT WAS THAT?_

The grass bowed in the same direction as the running machine, its four paws jumping off the ground rhythmically. Jumping, because every now and then it would practically fly a certain distance before landing back on ground and pushing itself off again.

As it rushed past Zhongli, the wind tearing his scarf away from his head and exposing his inhuman features, Zhongli thought he saw a door in the back part of this gigantic steaming machine. A green door, completely unfitting in the entire design. Did somebody live in that thing?

Yaomo, who had been clinging to Zhongli’s tail for a while before it discovered that it could use his scales to climb along up to Zhongli’s shoulders, extended an arm and jumped excitedly up and down, tugging on his hair.

“You want me to follow it?” To be fair, Zhongli could feel the machine’s worth deep inside his chest. He had never been really interested in this new technology that had gained popularity over recent years because his forte had always been handiwork and working with Visions. Now, as demon, he could feel the materials call him. No, not only feel. He felt _the dire need_ to go and claim the treasures slumbering inside the moving thing. And so, Zhongli started running.

When the machine had rushed past him, it had seemed incredibly fast. Now, that Zhongli was trailing it, he discovered how fast it really was. Fortunately, his legs could carry him in good speed and the wind was in his back, pushing him for the door too. Yaomo kept on jumping on Zhongli’s shoulders, spread its limbs when they were close enough and got carried to the front stairs that were attached to the green door by a strong force. While clinging to the railing, it extended a limb as if asking Zhongli to grab on it.

The weight of his tail was too curious, and Zhongli felt exhaustion settle in his legs the longer he failed to catch up to the door. The front stairs were always just an arm length away, barely, barely out of reach!

A new gust of wind rushed underneath Zhongli. He screamed when it lifted him up and carried him the last few inches to the door, a feeling as if he was flying, and then he crashed against the wood. The door gave in under the pressure, tore open, and Zhongli tumbled into the darkness, fell to the ground and groaned in pain when he fell flat against stone. Behind him, the door shut close.

“Ouch, that was unnecessary.” Zhongli sat up slowly and listened with his bated breath, half expecting that his intrusion would be noticed. Instead, he heard the sounds of water flowing along tubes, and thought he could hear the aforementioned precious metals call out to him too. “Yaomo?”

His eyes grew used to the dim darkness and he recognized steps that led up. Next to his right leg, the darker shape of Yaomo sat quietly, ears moving in all directions and probably picking up the interesting sounds around them. Well, the continuous plashing of water, together with the creaks, shrieks and hissing of steam was curious background noise.

“Hello? Is anyone here?” Zhongli got up, climbed the stairs and looked around. Whatever this room was – entrance room, living room, kitchen? –, it was extremely messy. Dirty dishes, laundry, tools, potions, materials like Albedo and Sucrose might use them, ingredients and whatnot were piled up, thrown over, hanging from the ceiling or simply standing around. Zhongli could feel that some of the things inside the mess were rare treasures, plus he could feel the vibration of magic in the air. Was this a sorcerer’s or magician’s house? Where were they?

To Zhongli’s left there was a stove with a dimly shining clear light on it. This was the only source of light that made the darkness in this room less than impenetrable even though this wasn’t a fire. Magic was radiating from it too and made Zhongli’s hairs stand on end.

“I’m sorry for intruding!” He walked deeper into the room and took another look around, but no matter how much he looked, this place seemed deserted for now. Maybe the owner would come back later? Oh well, Zhongli hadn’t had an aim in the first place, surely it would be okay to stay here and get off later if the sorcerer or magician wasn’t okay with him staying here. Also, Yaomo seemed extremely comfortable because it had rushed into the darkness and disappeared in the mess until Zhongli couldn’t see it anymore.

“I’m tired.” Zhongli sighed. How much time had passed since his departure? Was it the transformation that made him feel like this? Or had he exerted too much power while making a run for the door? Since the master of this place wasn’t home it wouldn’t hurt too take a short nap, would it? Ah, to rest his legs … just close his eyes for a moment … Maybe this was also an after-effect of Albedo’s potions yesterday evening. Or like, the entirety of what had happened to him.

Zhongli still hadn’t processed that he had left his life behind him once again. Did one get used to that? Somehow, he didn’t seem quite bothered by his loss. But he _was._ Of course he was. If there was a way to turn back time, then Zhongli would take the first opportunity no matter the cost. However, this was not what magic could accomplish. Because magic was limited, in every respect.

“I’ll just sit here by the entrance. I’ll surely wake up when the master returns back home.” Zhongli pulled a chair closer to the strange light on the stove and crossed his arms in front of his chest, letting his head fall forward until his chin rested on his chest. He closed his eyes and lulled in by the warmth coming from the blue light he fell asleep. And because he was asleep, he didn’t see that the light opened two eyes and floated upwards, surprised by the uninvited guests in a house it was supposed to guard in its master’s absence. Zhongli didn’t notice either how Yaomo hid itself in the messy bunch and stretched out all four in order to relax, replenishing its magic in these interesting surroundings.

And most of all, he didn’t notice when the house’s master and the master’s disciple returned home, because the events of these two days had taken more energy from him than he had assumed.


	3. Rinse and Cleanse

Fastened on the wall at eye-level, there was a small wheel next to the door. Curiously enough, the wheel was divided in four different colours – blue, red, green and black – and seemed to turn at will, the hook-like arrow on its top pointing at the wheel’s different segments; all but at black, which it seemed to avoid at all costs.

Just this one time as if on order, the arrow switched to the black portion with a soft chime. The door swung open on its own, revealing complete darkness on the other side, a darkness so deep and impenetrable that the naked eye couldn’t discern what it was looking at. From there, an armoured hand materialized, followed by an armoured arm and upper body, all of it covered in blood and slime in different colours.

“Caeruleus, heat up some water for me.” The person that came through the door reached up to a prominently masked face, wiped their hand in front of the mask and dissolved it into magical particles that slowly fell to the ground as ashes.

“One day you will not be able to turn back anymore. Don’t come running to me then.” The answer came from the stove where the blue light had awoken earlier. It floated up, its bright eyes focusing on the newcomer, and changed colours from its clear blue light to red tones at its feet-like endings before the first bubbles started rising in its body. Caeruleus reached down to the stove’s grid and held on tight as more and more bubbles ran through its body, building steam that evaporated in the wide room. The castle seemed to pick up on this because while there had been the continuous sound of something heavy running over ground from the outside all this time, now the sounds of steam-powered engines and quickly running water streams complimented the silence.

In the meantime, the master of the castle had noticed that there was one more person sitting on a chair in front of the stove – or maybe, “person” wasn’t exactly the right word for him. Strangely, despite his prominent position basically at the entrance to the master's home, he had blended into his surroundings so neatly that the master stopped in quiet surprise for a moment before he walked closer to take a better look at their guest. He also noticed another presence deeper down.

“Why did you let it in?”, he asked Caeruleus, seemingly not talking about the visitor on the chair in front of him.

“Pah. As if. It invited itself into the castle without my permission.” Caeruleus slowly but steadily stopped throwing bubbles and producing steam in its body and slowly sank back to the white pebbles that were put onto a heap on the stove. “Throw both of them out, Tartaglia.”

“Him? No.” The sorcerer had shed most of his armour by now, piles of magic ashes falling to the ground behind and around him as he walked on, but his clothing and skin was still as dirty as before. He leaned deeper over the visitor, his eyes sparkling in the reflecting light. “Interesting, to see a dragon like this. But …”

Tartaglia reached out for the stranger, who was soundly sleeping and unaware of the conversation going on around him, got reminded of his bloodied fingers when he happened to see them and retracted his hand with a soft sound without that he had touched him. Instead, his eyes focused the depth of the room, locking gazes with a certain demon plush that emanated similar magic as the dragon.

A sharp smile devoid of any friendliness appeared on Tartaglia’s face. “I’ll deal with you later.” Then he walked on, past the stove, up a staircase and disappeared from sight. Caeruleus gave off sounds that sounded like someone under water producing quick water bubbles, and ultimately climbed sideways, where it reached for a single white pebble that lay there.

“I’ll give you the benefit of doubt”, it said to Yaomo as it put the pebble underneath its glowing blue body. “You better leave before Tartaglia comes to deal with you though. He’s in a mood tonight.”  
  


* * *

  
The next handful of hours passed peacefully. The small wheel at eye-level next to the door kept spinning and avoiding the black segment on its parameter, and outside the sun seemed to slowly rise because sunlight reached through the windows into the main room at this time (one must notice that time seemed to be passing differently here for some reason ...). However, it was also a ray of sunlight which fell onto Zhongli’s scaled cheek that made him wake up from his slumber with a start.

He looked around, confused about his unfamiliar surroundings, then quickly remembered what had happened to him and immediately reached up to his face in order to see if the spell hadn’t reverted and he gone back to his old self, hoping that everything had simply been a bad dream.

He had not.

The door’s wheel turned to the blue section and the door jumped open another time, letting in a small person with a mask over his face. Small, but not because of his age but because of his natural height.

“Childe, I’m home!”, he shouted, busy with a basket that he was holding in two arms, and pushed the door shut with his foot behind him. “Oh Childe, you’re-“, he began when he saw someone in the main room from the corners of his eyes, raising his gaze, and dropped the basket when he realized that this was not who he thought it was, immediately going into a defensive stance. “Who are you?!”

“Oh.” Zhongli had risen from the chair, overwhelmed from the roaring feeling in his heart that demanded that he protected the castle (fighting against his logical sense that _he_ was the intruder and there was nothing to protect). He happened to notice that his tail beat from side to side, so he reached behind himself and gripped it tightly to stop it from moving, laughing in easy embarrassment. “Hello. My name is Zhongli. I am …” He caught a look at the ashes on the ground, threw a look to the side to the incredible mess of things and completed his sentence after a short pause: “… the cleaning personnel.”

“The cleaning personnel? And who hired you?”, the other echoed, reached up and with a soft wipe of his hand dematerialized the mask over his face in a gust of Anemo - a sorcerer. He revealed a handsome, but rather young-looking face underneath the mask, with golden watchful but also judging eyes. Together with his chin-length black hair that looked self-cut but stylish and the random array of clothing it was hard to tell who of the two of them was the older one – posing a certain problem in terms of address.

“Childe never mentioned cleaning personnel to me. Typical.” He bent over and picked up a roll of cheese that had fallen out of the basket when he had dropped it, together with a loaf of bread. With another small gesture, he used Anemo to rid the bread of ashes and dirt, put both ingredients back into the basket and walked up the small staircase to Zhongli and past him.

“You are late.”

The new voice came from Zhongli’s side, so he turned his head. His eyes widened – the light on the stove talked! It had eyes and while its shape was constantly changing like flowing water, it seemed to have something like feet and arms from time to time. Right now, its eyes shifted to Zhongli, forming a mouth to the looking eyes. “What are you staring at? Can’t waltz into a magical castle and expect it to be normal. Be helpful at least, give me that pebble there.”

It materialized a thin finger that pointed at something that was behind Zhongli. When he turned his head to follow the finger, there he found several caskets piled up carelessly on each other in incredibly impossible balance, one of them containing white even pebbles. The other caskets gave off the scent of magic and … treasure. Was this what Zhongli was feeling as light tickling under his skin, asking for his attention? He wondered what kind of treasures were waiting there for his loving attention.

“Stop staring, move already.”

“Yes.” Zhongli shook his head to rid himself off the clouds in his mind, let go off his tail, took a pebble and reached it over to the … water demon, repeating his action when another hand materialized, asking for more.

“Stop. Caeruleus, you know you need to limit yourself!” The other person, who had managed to balance the basket with food on top of several piled-up books and dirty dishes, turned to them with an angry look, but instead of paying attention to the direct reproach, the water demon took the offered pebble, swallowed it, gratified, and answered seemingly without any relation and interest: “Someone at Liyue.”

At the same time, the wheel at the side of the door stopped at the blue section with a soft chime and somebody knocked at the door. Immediately, the youth, who still hadn’t introduced himself yet, returned the mask to his face in one breath, hit against his chest once and shouted with even deeper voice: “Hold on, I’m on my way!”

With an elegant, cat-like jump he got down the stairs, opened the door manually and looked up to the visitor in front. Zhongli watched from his place of observation.

“Her Majesty to the Qixing of Visions, Childe. An invitation.” The person, a Liyue official judging by his outfit and choice of colours, extended a sealed letter and bowed his head courteously. The youth took the letter with another deep “Thanks”, closed the door and removed the mask, showing an even face that didn't display his swirling emotions.

“The Qixing of Visions?”, Zhongli echoed, struck in surprise by the entirtey of his surroundings. Did he actually intrude into the house of such a highly ranked person? Could this youth be ... no, that wasn't probable; the official would've recognized the youth as this Qixing of Visions Childe when handing the letter over. But when Zhongli had chased the mechanical device in the planes yesterday evening together with Yaomo (where was it by the way?), this castle hadn’t even seemed like a magical place actually, let alone the home of a Liyue Qixing. Only like a precious and extremely dirty one, maybe.

“I don’t keep up with Childe anymore.” The youth put the letter in his hands into one of the thick tomes on the table opposite of the stove, reaching for the basket with more complaints, but before he was able to, Caeruleus spoke up again, with certain satisfaction in its voice: “Someone at Snezhnaya.” It seemed to say _Don't get too comfortable now._

The same process as before repeated itself, but this time, the wheel selected green before the youth (quickly wrapping himself into an additional coat to cover his bare shoulders) opened the door again, and the official on the other side was dressed up warmly too because … there was snow outside?!

Zhongli, who had kept with his back to the caskets with treasure in some sort of protective stance, bowed lower to catch a better view at what was outside. This wasn't Liyue anymore. No doubt, this was snow what he saw. Could this really be a different city even though this was the same door? But what kind of magic could be behind this??

“Is the wizard Tartaglia available?” Not just the official’s Russian accent captured Zhongli’s attention, but also the word “wizard”, when nobody referred to sorcerers that way anymore (it was outdated, to say the least). Zhongli slowly moved away from the stove and to the staircase to catch a better gaze of outside, unaware that his tail had picked up free nervous movement again. Not that it seemed to bother anyone here.

“Tartaglia isn’t home. Can I be of service instead, sir?”

“Please give the wizard Tartaglia this envelope. It’s an invitation from Her Majesty, the Tsaritsa. The war has started. The motherland needs his assistance.”

Zhongli descended the stairs and with free sight past the youth and courteously bowing official wondered about the snow-covered street when moments ago there have been the warm streets of Liyue in plain sight. A gust of cold wind hit him directly on the front and stood in stark contrast to the warmth in his body, sending a violent shiver through him (when he had feared he’d be overdressed yesterday, now he regretted for not going for warmer clothing). Still, despite the painful cold he walked on, leaned against and out of the doorframe and put his head back in silent admiration of the view.

There was a tall mountain chain past the roofs of the compact houses opposite of here, and it was extremely cold – definitely Snezhnaya even though Zhongli had never personally been here. Everyone knew about the famed Subzero climate of Snezhnaya though, a winter so cold that simply standing still could mean freezing to death.

Fortunately, the official was unfazed by both Zhongli’s behaviour and appearance – having delivered his letter he turned around on his heels and walked along the few people without another word. The youth was unfazed too, judging by his even voice.

“I want to shut the door, Didi. Move.”

_Didi?_

Zhongli took a step back – the door snapped shut immediately, with Caeruleus complaining about the cold in the background – and turned his head to the youth, who was maybe a head taller to Zhongli than Yaomo was, with new curiosity. What had made him decide that Zhongli was the younger one between the two of them? It couldn't be based off Zhongli's behavior just now, right?

“Remember, my name’s Xiao. I’m the only disciple Childe ever took in and that makes my ranking higher than yours in his home. That means, you better listen to me when the master is out.” He nodded. “And now it’s finally time for breakfast. Caeruleus, no more.”

"You're just the disciple, don't forget that."

“What is this door?”, Zhongli asked, too caught up in his own thoughts to wonder any longer about who this other person Xiao had mentioned was (even though he hadn't forgotten about the whole Qixing of Visions Childe thing; it just lost priority for the moment). As far as he was aware, this door was neither a mechanical device nor any sort magic because he couldn’t feel an aura radiating from it, and yet … there must be some sort of explanation to it, right?

Zhongli inspected the doorknob closer and realized that it had a small dot on the handle which indicated the same colour as the black arrow on the wheel next to the door on eye-level showed. He extended his hand, turned the knob until the wheel jumped over to blue, opened the door slightly and peeked outside. There was no mistaking, the scenery outside was a familiar city to Zhongli – good old Liyue with bustling streets and the shouts of merchants in some distance. The same as when Xiao had looked outside earlier, with the first official and the first letter of invitation.

“Where do red and black lead to?” He shut the door before opening it again at red. To his greatest surprise yet, instead of a street like respectively Snezhnaya at green and Liyue at blue, he found himself in the middle of nowhere; it was so extremely foggy that Zhongli couldn’t see very far, so he opened the door wider and stepped out. Was this the place where he had chased the castle yesterday? He couldn't tell; and the castle wasn't currently moving. This could be anywhere, actually.

At this moment, something tall shot past Zhongli and the silhouette of a black plush disappeared into the fog until it couldn’t be seen anymore. It had happened so fast - “Yaomo!”, Zhongli shouted, waited, got not response. Wondered, why he even cared when he couldn't care about himself in the first place and decided to turn back, closing the door behind himself. He should prioritize his own stay right now.

Who were those people?

“The beast was with you?” Xiao pushed another chair to the table and placed two plates around the basket, which was still balanced on several books and threatened to fall over with one wrong movement. Just looking at it could make one feel dizzy. “Are you sure that you’re only here for cleaning? Or are you some kind of sorcerer too?”

Caeruleus cackled in the background – it sounded like heated water bubbles popping on air -, and Zhongli shrugged, unsure of what to answer. He could hardly say that he was actually a demon because a magician had cursed him and made him leave his entire life behind because of this (and to protect his family, in a sense). But maybe demons weren't a problem ... Caeruleus was definitely one too, after all.

Seeing the loaf of bread and cheese that Xiao pulled out of the basket reminded Zhongli that he hadn’t eaten much since yesterday and was hungry. Though ... maybe that hadn't even been yesterday because the time differences between the different locations outside the door made time extremely confusing. Had he left everything behind just yesterday or had more time passed already? Had Albedo and Sucrose started searching for him? Had they already given up?

_Maybe I should've left something as explanation behind._

“May I join?”, he asked, but Xiao only waved the knife in his hand that he used to cut the bread with at the second seat without saying a word. Zhongli assumed that this was the closest to an invitation he’d get and moved to sit down where he wouldn’t disturb anyone, among the piles of whatever those things around him were. This wasn't so bad if he thought about it - the amount of trinkets, caskets, chests, artefacts and whatnots collected here had a striking similarity to Albedo's collection. But Albedo had had more order in his things, a sort of "organized genius' mess".

“Is there a seat for me too?” Another, strangely familiar voice came from the staircase that led to the second level. Xiao, who had been busy putting bread on their plates, froze in motion, looked up to meet eyes with Zhongli and asked him: “Could you look in the drawer behind you, I think there’s another plate there?”

“Of course.” Zhongli ignored the goosebumps that ran over his skin underneath his scales upon hearing this definitely familiar voice, turned around on his chair, fought with said drawer in order to pull it open and not push everything over with this motion, intensely listening to the footsteps that came down from the second level. He might be imagining. He must be.

“I wasn’t aware that you’re home, Childe." Impressive how Xiao managed to make the things said with even voice sound accusing through his wording.

“I’ll be gone in a minute again, don’t worry, Xiao gui.” This laugh … Could it be? Could it be _him?_

Zhongli finally managed to pull the drawer open after a short struggle (one of its wooden sides had splinters that hindered smooth movement) and ordered his hands to stay even when he rummaged through the contents, pushed a couple of notebooks to the side and really found a plate underneath some tissues. For some inexplicable reason, when he turned around and placed the plate opposite of himself for the newcomer (no doubt, the master of this home), he kept his eyes down to not meet gaze him, and picked up his bread with cheese silently. Embarrassment? Guilty conscience? Shiness? None of those fit for Zhongli.

A pair of nice legs came into view and the chair opposite of Zhongli got pushed back.

“It would be good manners to offer water to our guest, Xiao gui”, Childe chided calmly, sat down at the table and leaned against an arm with a fond smile. “It has been a while since I met a dragon", he directly addressed Zhongli with his next breath, not leaving time for Xiao to answer. "What’s your name?”

_A dragon?_

Zhongli raised his head and yet, despite all mental preparation, seeing those clear blue eyes again still hit him unprepared, made him stare breathlessly at Gongzi in silent admiration. It'd be irrational to say that he had never seen such blue eyes before - it was more about the feeling those eyes harbored, the sparkle in them that made Zhongli feel as if he was looking at the worht of a pure sapphire.

“Zhongli”, he managed to answer, less eloquent than he’d usually introduce himself. He was aware of Xiao’s burning gaze into the side of his face but chose to ignore it, captured by many thoughts inside his head: did Gongzi recognize him? Probably not … Zhongli didn’t look like himself anymore, not at all like when they had met for the first time. Assuming that Gongzi would even remember someone as inconspicuous and unimpressive as Zhongli under normal circumstances.

Then, even though Gongzi hadn't given off signs of magic before already, this time he only carried one single Vision on himself as far as Zhongli could tell: an Anemo bangle on the wrist that he leaned against, that fond smile unchanged playing around his lips.

And what was the deal with this "dragon"? What even was a dragon?

“So, Zhongli xiansheng, what brings you here?” He accepted the bread Xiao reached over to him after getting tired of being ignored, materialized a straight dagger with a slight flick of his wrist with the bangle around it, and cut himself a piece of bread, blindly reaching into the basket way over his head, where he pulled some sausages to go with the base.

“I’m … here to clean.” Zhongli remembered that he was holding onto his own bread and butter for a while now without doing anything with it and put it down again, consciously rolling his uncontrolled tail around the chair he was sitting on. There was definitely no reason to get flustered. “Your home needs it, Gongzi.”

“Ah. Hahaha!” Childe laughed unrestrainedly, pointing at Zhongli but turning to Xiao: “Did you hear that, Xiao gui? Xiansheng has a point. You don’t care too much about this place when I’m away.”

“Is it my fault when you keep putting your things everywhere?”, he shot back immediately, already on his second bread slice. Childe snickered, flicked his fingers and sent a small gust of wind against Xiao, who credited it with a toothful grin. “So, Zhongli xiansheng, as our guest you shouldn’t hold onto your present either. Come on.”

_Huh?_

Zhongli stared in confusion.

“Your pocket.” Gongzi put down his half-eaten bread piece and waited until Zhongli followed the instruction and – pulled out a bluish piece of paper?

“I don’t remember this”, Zhongli murmured, reached the paper out to Gongzi, who had extended a hand as well, but when Childe's fingertips touched the paper it seemed to react to something (Childe flinched back too late) and burst into flames immediately, leaving a strange symbol in the air.

“The Cryo Witch!”, Xiao exclaimed, losing his usual even voice, and jumped up, kicking his chair over in the movement. At the same time, Gongzi slapped a hand over the burning symbol and pressed it flat against the table, the scent and feeling of Anemo filling the air violently around his hand until smoke mixed with it. The gust was so strong that several books on the table flipped open in the process despite how heavy their covers were and papers flew through the air. However, when Gongzi terminated his magic and retracted his hand, the Pyro symbol had disappeared.

“She has guts calling me heartless”, he commented drily, his smile gone for the first time ever since he had come down to join them for breakfast. He too had stood up and glared at the table, where the Pyro magic had left an ugly burn mark on the wood, ignoring the additional mess his Anemo gust had created to his side. "Seems we'll need a new table. Well, Xiao gui, keep an eye on our guest, will you?"

He turned away, keeping his hand with the bangle strangely pressed to his side. Xiao, who had quickly picked up his plate with the breakfast to save his food from the Anemo influence, rounded Gongzi, still agitated.

“Childe, she’s _Cryo_ , doesn’t this worry you?!”

“I will be back in the evening.” And without another word, Gongzi rushed to the door, the handle turned to black before him, opened for a moment and _whoosh,_ Gongzi was gone as fast as he had come.

Zhongli watched carefully without comment, processing what had happened. In his stead, Caeruleus manifested two thin arms and waved them in the air, complaining: “This sorcerer’s temper, his temper! He is going to be the end of us!”

Had Zhongli done something wrong? He was still hungry ... but his breakfast was gone and the basket kicked over because of Childe's magic, ingredients scattered everywhere.

“You.” Zhongli flinched at Xiao’s sudden address. “Are you sure that you don’t work for the Cryo Witch?”

… witch. There it was again, a word that nobody used for sorcerers and magicians anymore. What could the story behind that be?

“I don’t”, Zhongli answered truthfully and courtly, unable to shake off the stupor that had taken hold of him since he had met Gongzi again. There was so much he didn't understand ... and the person that could explain things to him had just rushed out of the door. "I absolutely despise her."

Zhongli was positive that he wouldn’t be able to tell Xiao about Signora's attack on him (who else could this "Cryo Witch" be?). He hadn't been able to before and maybe never would be. Still he hoped that Gongzi, Xiao and Caeruleus at least believed him.

This feeling of stupor only started dissolving when Zhongli was able to busy his hands, picking up what he had said he was here for. He had noticed it a while ago, actually, that he felt most at ease whenever he had something to do and a task to concentrate on. The routine in the middle of insecurity felt like a haven, had always been so. With the amount of things all around him Zhongli could almost pretend that this wasn’t Gongzi’s stuff he was cleaning but Albedo’s that he was sorting through and bringing into an order. Almost.

It eventually calmed his mind to pick up books, cauldrons, magical items, pages, constructions and treasure parts like jewels and gold pieces that he stowed away safely where nobody would be able to find them (was that what it meant to be a dragon?). Zhongli’s first approach was to ultimately bring an order into things, collect belonging artefacts on one place and the rest in another to uncover the floor tiles again, where the real cleaning would begin.

“Xiao-ge”, he spoke up, looking at the traces of ashes all over the floor, and stunned noticed that the disciple was nowhere to be seen in proximity. However, the door to Liyue was open … and yes, Xiao was sitting on the threshold and visibly startled when Zhongli stepped to him.

“Xiao-ge, can you use Anemo to clean the ashes from the floor?”, Zhongli asked, but Xiao shook his head wildly, already jumping up and bringing distance between him and Zhongli. One could think Zhongli had asked something outrageous and unimaginable.

“You can’t use magic for something mundane as this!”, he complained, confirming Zhongli's thoughts. “Why do you think did we get Visions?? Not for _housework_.”

“Housework is important.” Zhongli tilted his head. He felt that Xiao had to learn a lot that Gongzi would not be able to teach him ... even if Xiao was older than Zhongli (which was not confirmed despite him addressing him as "didi"). Ah well, maybe cleaning wasn't the only thing he could do here.

"Not with Visions." Their dispute had drawn first attention and people stopped to look at Zhongli's curious appearance but hurried on when they noticed his eyes on them. He straightened up, realizing what sight he must show and immediately stepped back into the safety of the castle, away from prying eyes. "Oh. I see", he said and tried it not to get to him at the very least. He needed to have his priorities straight.

“Caeruleus”, he addressed the water demon on the stove instead and left Xiao behind himself. “Can you give me water to scrub the floor then?”

The blue light floating over the stove didn’t answer. In fact, it looked exactly how it had when Zhongli had entered the castle, not like a water demon at all but just some kind of fancy light.

“Caeruleus? Caeruleus, are you sleeping?” Zhongli stepped closer, reached out to poke the water drop on the side and was amazed about how it kept avoiding the touch gracefully, changing its shape constantly with the movement of his hand.

“Xiao is right, you know.” Caeruleus manifested one eye, blinking at Zhongli. “You can’t use Visions for mundane housework.”

“Why not? I’m here to clean. This is what I do. Don’t be like this.” He placed both hands on the edge of the stove and leaned forward, focusing Caeruleus intensely. Because his eyes were those of a dragon, his stare was more intense than what the water demon was used to, and it changed colours from light blue to deeper colours, extending its form until it had a shape again. Zhongli couldn't tell the feeling it was expressing, but its words were clear.

“I will not tolerate this!”, it protested. Another one of those obstacles ...

“I’ll take away your pebbles.” Zhongli demonstratively looked to the side, where he had piled the caskets with white pebbles onto each other in his cleaning routine. Xiao, who had snuck inside in the meantime and froze when he was noticed, broke into full run and rushed past them, up the staircase to the second level, followed by Zhongli’s: “You better hide what I’m not supposed to clean away!”

“You will not dare to do that!” Caeruleus gasped, wrapped several water arms around the stove’s grid and pulled closer to Zhongli, its eyes losing shape as its body trembled in indignation. “I'll let you know, I am the reason why Gongzi is alive, you would not dare to endanger his life!”

“No pebbles for you until you give me water to clean the ashes here.” Zhongli straightened up, crossed his arms in front of his chest and raised his eyebrows. “Choose.”

“Do you even know who you’re talking to?! I am the powerful Caeruleus, a demon with powers beyond your imagination, and you dare to threaten me with –” Caeruleus shook harder.

“Well, I will leave the pebbles there and clean the second level in the meantime. You have time to reconsider, Caeruleus with powers beyond my imagination.”

“No. Wait! Zhongli! Zhongli where do you think you’re going!”

Zhongli ignored Caeruleus’ protests, ignored the steam that picked up when the entire castle shook with the power flowing through its veins and started moving, and climbed the stairs to the second level, ready to keep his promise.

“No, I’m not ready yet!” Xiao shut the door to his side and shut Zhongli out so that he wouldn't clean Xiao's room first – but to be honest, Zhongli didn’t have a mind for that right now. This entire time that he had been in Gongzi's castle, he had already _felt_ the treasures inside here. When he had cleaned the first story today, he had found treasures that he had believed were the reason for his restlessness. However, here, on the second level, he realized how wrong he had been. Instantly, his mind locked to the one place that really mattered.

They were calling him. The treasures were here. Precious stones, waiting for his loving hands, just there, behind this black door. Several auras had kept it safe but now he could feel it, worth truly beyond what he thought about right now, right here where –

He reached out with one hand to the door's handle and retracted his arm immediately when cold pain shot through his fingers. With an inhuman hiss he lowered his gaze and saw to his horror that his fingertips up to the first phalanges were covered in solid Cryo, making his skin underneath the scales go numb with cold.

[What Zhongli didn’t know was that dragons had a natural aversion to Cryo because of their heightened body temperature – so there was nothing more effective than Cryo as defence against dragons. Gongzi naturally knew].

Zhongli shook his hand with a more human hiss, moved his fingers and freed his fingers of the ice, finally noticing the threatening crackling of a Cryo aura coming from the door, almost inaudible underneath the call of treasures waiting for him beyond. Judging by the black wood and writing on the door, there was no mistaking that this was Gongzi’s room.

“I need to clean this”, Zhongli explained to the air. The air didn’t care, and the door didn’t budge.

Zhongli wasn’t fond of the idea to try and push it open by force one more time and asking Caeruleus for help when he had put up an ultimatum just now wasn’t the way to go either – so Zhongli decided to settle with another room until Gongzi returned and would allow him to enter his room then … for cleaning purposes. One day, he WOULD go in there. And he would save the treasures calling for him. Simply knowing that they were there had to be enough for now.

Zhongli went to the adjacent room, checked for magic barriers first before entering and still felt as if he was hit by another Cryo spell when he entered a bathroom – it was downright _disgusting_. How could words describe the state this room was in? When the first level had been mostly a random conglomerate of magical and not magical things that needed to be brought into order and treasures that asked to be discovered, then this room was in desperate need for real cleaning, a cleaning like the world had not seen before. There were ashes all over the floor, in a layer that was so thick that when Zhongli crouched down and put a hand into the ashes, his entire hand disappeared in there. The walls were smeared in substances that were unidentifiable ... and the stench, the stench!

No gust of Anemo would help cleaning this out … nor water, no matter how much Caeruleus was able to give. Additionally, the castle’s movement – a side-effect of Caeruleus’ rage downstairs as he tried to shake everything up even more to give Zhongli a head-ache while cleaning – moved the ashes so much that the layer rose into the air thinly and slowly rose into the hallway.

“You leave me no choice.” Zhongli reached for his sleeves and rolled them back up to his elbows, clenching his jaws. “It’s time to get serious.”

**Author's Note:**

> Fact, I have a slither of knowledge about Chinese salutation/honorifics, so I'm sorry for any mistakes (but I try to google as much as possible before using anything).
> 
> Was playing with the idea of reversing Chili's roles and make Zhongli the sorcerer but ,,,


End file.
